Chapter 2
The slaying of the Minotaur
O-O-O-O-O
What was it that drove monsters to destroy? Why was it that the vast majority of monsters were incensed to hunt and kill humans and Half-bloods? Was it instinct? A subconscious, driving force that spurred the supernatural to consume the natural? Or perhaps it was divine in nature, the whisperings of the godly beings that created monsters in the first place. Gaea, the Earth Mother Goddess with her vendetta against the Olympians and their progeny. Echidna, the mother of Greece's greatest beasts and the delight she took in the chaos and carnage brought by the conflict between man and monster. Typhon, the walking storm who only obeyed his nature, his purpose to bring ruin. The list goes on.
Or perhaps it is the work of Fate. Just as heroes are born, so too are the monsters they are destined to slay. After all, for a hero to exist, someone must be in danger. There must be a disaster to avert, a dragon to slay. And what better disaster than a monster, a nemesis to oppose the pure, righteous ideals of the hero. If heroes would stand as the beacon of light that illuminates the human race, monsters would serve as the ultimate evil, lurking in the shadows and waiting to pounce.
It seems that no matter where a monster may have originated from, no matter the circumstances of its birth, they were driven to kill and feast on the children of mankind.
And now, the monster known as the Minotaur was driven forth to kill a certain son of Poseidon.
"▂▂▃▃▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
The Minotaur charged, swinging its fists with reckless abandon. Just before he struck, the Demigod ducked and rolled to the side, slipping beneath the Minotaur's random strikes and narrowly avoiding being trampled. The bull-horned beast charged past, crashing into the treeline. One of his swinging arms struck a tree, effortlessly reducing the trunk into kindling. The Demigod gulped, understanding that a single hit from that creature would spell instant death.
"Percy!" The Demigod's mortal mother cried to him. "You have to go now, he won't stop until he's got you, and you can't dodge forever!"
"I can't just leave you and Grover behind!" Percy cried back.
The Minotaur turned to glance at the boy's mother. Though sight was limited through his mask, he could see that his distance from the Demigod and the mother carrying an unconscious satyr was about the same. If he attacked the mortal, she wouldn't be able to dodge. If she did, she'd have to drop the satyr. Either way, he'd be guaranteed a meal. His hunger could be satiated. But…
The sea.
The sea.
The sea!
"▂▂▃▃▅▅!"
Another bellow rumbled through the trees as the Minotaur charged for Percy. The boy yelped as he dove out of the beast's path once again, only narrowly dodging the fists this time. If he could get to his mom, he could help her carry Grover. And then, they would be able to make it to the farmhouse in the distance, just maybe-!
The Minotaur leaped, slamming down just before Percy. He raised his fist high and punched downwards at the young Demigod with the force of an eighteen-wheeler, intent on crushing him in a single blow. Percy scrambled backward just in time, yet when the Minotaur's fist connected with the earth instead, shockwaves rippled through the ground, forming a crater and flinging dirt upwards, along with Percy.
"PERCY!" the mortal screamed as her son landed back on the ground with a heavy thud, groaning in pain.
Paying her no mind, the Minotaur advanced, looming over Percy like a messenger of death in the darkness of the stormy night. He had finally gotten the boy who smelled like the sea. The one who smelled like the hero who had sent him to that burning hell. He had finally done it! Now, he could…
He could…
...What did he want to do?
"▂▂▂▂…"
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"
The Minotaur stumbled as the small body of Sally Jackson crashed into him from behind. In his pursuit of the Demigod, he had not expected to be attacked, much less by the mortal. Yet the fury of a mother was not to be underestimated. The human body is capable of a great many things, and when their child is in danger, a protective mother is capable of pushing her body to its absolute limit on sheer adrenaline alone.
But adrenaline alone is not enough. Not in the case of a mortal fighting an eight-foot-tall monster straight out of Greek mythology bare-handed.
"M-mom…?" Percy groaned as he sat up.
"Percy!" Sally shouted. The normally gentle and demure mother now spoke with a voice cored with steel. "Run, NOW! I'll hold him off for as long as I can!" Her tone offered no room for argument. Then, as if to somehow hold him back, she wrapped her arms around the Minotaur's waist as best she could, planting her feet firmly into the ground.
"What are you waiting for?! Go NOW!"
Percy was snapped from his awe at watching his mother grappling with the legendary monster. Staggering to his feet, he made a beeline for the crest of the hill.
The Minotaur made to chase, yet with every step he took Sally hindered him. When it proved that dragging her feet would not slow him down, she kicked at his legs, tripping him up.
"▂▂▃▃▅▅▅!"
The Minotaur roared in frustration, stopping his pursuit of the boy to pry the woman off of him. He twisted and spun, attempting to shake her off. While she swung around like a rag doll, her grasp held strong, clinging tightly to his body. He grabbed her hands, pulling them off his own body, and with a final shake, Sally Jackson was flung off, pinwheeling through the air and landing painfully.
Rid of his problem, the Minotaur prepared to charge again and close the distance between him and the fleeing Demigod. It would only take a moment to catch up and-!
"N-no…" Sally dragged herself between the monster and her boy. Despite being battered and bruised, she stood strong, holding her arms apart to form a one-woman wall behind her son.
"I…" She huffed, taking deep breaths, clearly exhausted but standing nonetheless. "I won't let you hurt him!"
Behind the mask, the Minotaur's teeth ground. What was with this mortal? Couldn't she see that he didn't care about her? She could flee right now and he wouldn't give chase, so why was she here, guarding that Demigod?
"▂▂▃▃▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
As he reached the top of the hill, Percy looked down and saw the farmhouse, its lights piercing through the darkness. At the sound of the Minotaur's roar, Percy looked backward-
-only to watch the Minotaur sweep his arm to the side, backhanding his mother.
Time seemed to slow as Sally sailed through the air. What couldn't have been more than a second or two stretched into an eternity until at last, Sally stuck a tree.
Then, she exploded. The moment she hit the tree, she burst into golden light, her body vanishing in the flash, before that too dissipated.
"MOOOOOOOOOOM!"
Something erupted inside Percy. The same burst of strength he felt fighting his demonic math teacher returned, burning like fire. Yet at the same time, the chilling, freezing rain that soaked him to the bone seemed to flow into him. If the strength inside him was like a fire, the rain was like gasoline, causing that strength to explode out of control, making him grow stronger and stronger the more fell.
Then, with a burst that scattered the dirt beneath him, Percy sprinted down the hill towards the Minotaur. Pulling his fist back, Percy let loose an almighty scream, a battle cry worthy of a warrior, and the Minotaur responded in kind.
"RAAAAAAAAAAGGH!" "▂▂▃▃▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
As the Demigod entered his range, the Minotaur threw a punch. The difference in size between the two meant that the Minotaur would be able to attack freely without risk of retaliation, as Percy would not be able to both attack and stay out of range of the Minotaur's blows.
So if that was the case, then Percy would just have to get in range.
Reacting far faster when soaked in water than he would be able to otherwise, Percy sidestepped the punch and slammed his fist full force into the Minotaur's gut. The rain in the air visibly shuddered as a shockwave rippled from the point of impact, and the bull-man skidded backward, rumbling in pain.
"▂▅▂▅▂▅▂▅!"
"COME ON!" Percy screamed, running off of pure rage. "IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?!"
"Come on." The hero smirked. "Is that all you've got?"
The hero had destroyed one half of Labrys, and the Minotaur relieved him of his sword in kind. But where the hero only had one sword, Labrys existed as two separate axes. Seeing an easy kill, the Minotaur had recklessly charged his enemy, only for the hero to dodge and land a mighty blow barehanded.
"▂▂▃▃▅▅!"
"That's more like it!" The hero exclaimed, slipping into a fighting stance. "Show me what you've got, As*t***o*!"
But the Demigod before him cried out not in excitement, but rage. Charging forth once again, the son of the sea prepared another attack.
The Minotaur rushed forwards to meet him, but as the Demigod approached, he tried a different tactic. He spread his arms out, allowing Percy to step in. Just as Percy got in range to strike, the Minotaur attempted to crush him in his grip.
Yet, as the rain continued to fall, the enraged Demigod only got stronger. Instead of throwing a punch, Percy dropped to the ground and slid in between the Minotaur's legs, lashing out at the back of his knee and causing the beast to kneel. Without wasting a second, he leaped over the monster, landing a vicious kick to the back of the Minotaur's head, before touching down, landing in front of his nemesis once again.
This was it. With the Minotaur stunned from the kick, it had no way to defend itself as Percy prepared his final attack. Winding back his fist, he threw the strongest punch he had ever thrown in his life. All the anger, the grief, the confusion and guilt that churned within him went into this one, single attack.
The clang of bronze being struck rung out on the hill as the Minotaur shot into the treeline, demolishing several trees before slamming into a final tree and crumpling to the ground, slumped over like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
Percy took a deep breath in as he gazed upon the unmoving body of the legendary Greek monster.
"Agh!" Percy gripped the hand he had struck the Minotaur with. As his mind began to clear, he understood that even with freaky super-strength, punching metal should be avoided if possible. Though the scrapes on his hand burned a bit more than he thought they would, though the cool rain washed that pain away.
His mind was a blur. His best friend was a goat-donkey whatever, his mother was dead, and he had just killed an ancient Greek monster. With nowhere else to go and nothing else to do, the young Demigod shouldered his unconscious farm animal friend and began his trek to the farmhouse in the valley.
The Minotaur stirred to the sound of shouts. Through the trees, he spotted the glow of torches, illuminating the armed warriors holding them.
Now roused awake completely, the Minotaur stood to his feet and slipped into the darkness as quietly as he could. Now that the rain no longer roared around him, he could hear the conversations of the Demigod patrol much better.
"...and this is the tree it should've landed at, based on the trail of destruction. No sign of it anywhere though." Noted a Demigod kneeling and inspecting the tree the Minotaur had just been laying under.
"There's only a few splatters of blood on the hill, nothing else. It's only been what, an hour? Maybe a bit more?" Another Demigod remarked. "Does monster dust dissipate that fast?"
"Normally, yes." The kneeling Demigod answered, before standing to their feet. "But usually, the rain would soak it into a sludge that lasts longer. But we can't discount the fact that the rain could've also washed it away as well. Besides, given the nature of the Minotaur, it probably would've been stalking the perimeter trying to get in and would've attacked us by now. That thing's scary as all Hades, but it's a little if you'll forgive the expression, bull-headed."
The other Demigods chuckled at that. The Minotaur did not.
"Anyways," the Demigod concluded. "It's most likely dead. And if not, it certainly isn't in the state to be hunting down any more Half-bloods. We best head back to camp now, it's late and I don't want Clarisse to tan my hide for falling asleep during capture the flag tomorrow."
As the Demigods returned to the valley, the Minotaur slipped away in the opposite direction.
The sea Demigod was gone, and it seemed that the way things looked, he would never get another chance to catch him.
With nothing left, the Bull of Crete stumbled away into the wilderness.
"OoOoOuUuUuHh…"
The Minotaur paused.
The sounds it made seemed a little more distorted than usual. Reaching up, he felt the bronze mask that was eternally clasped onto his face.
It was dented.
Even still, its curse remained active.
If the beast believed in luck, he would've cursed it.
"MmOoOaAaAaUuU…"
Cing Krimson's Qringe Korner (A pretentiously obnoxious way of saying Author's Note): Wow, it's a good thing that Percy's only ever fought and killed Ms. Dodds and doesn't know that all monsters are supposed to turn into instant ramen soup mix when you kill them. And that he's been exposed to just enough supernatural shenanigans that he believes that his mom vanishing into light means she's dead.
Well anyway, now that Percy's safe in CHB hands, canon will progress as normal for him. The Minotaur's story will take him elsewhere, meeting faces you'll recognize, and some new figures I'll add in myself. Inevitably, he'll cross paths with the canon heroes again, ever so slightly changing the path of continuity each time, but that will come gradually.
...If I ever get around to continuing this at least. School and personal writing projects and whatnot. Oh well. We'll see where this goes.